David James scores calamitous ‘punch’ own goal for Bristol City

David James helped his old club Watford secure a 2-0 victory against his current club Bristol City by inadvertently punching the ball into his own net.

The 41-year-old, who started his career with The Hornets, gave them a helping hand last night when he misjudged a clearance from Carl Dickinson and it trickled into the empty goal.

Whoops: James miscues a punch (Picture: Action Images)

City boss Derek McInnes said: ‘The first was a killer goal from our perspective because we had started brightly.

‘A mistake like that is something you cannot anticipate and the game ran away from us.’

James’ error was reminiscent of his time at Liverpool, when a number of high profile mistakes in the Premier League earned him the nickname of Calamity James.

The incident marked the third own goal scored by Bristol City players in less than an hour of football at Ashton Gate, after Stephen McManus and Kalifa Cisse put the ball through their own net in a 2-1 loss to Cardiff City in the last home game.

After the former England international’s own goal, things went from bad to worse for his side as Sean Murray put Watford two up and Liam Fontaine saw red for The Robins.

The Watford win sees the side extend their unbeaten run to five games and puts Derek McInnes’ side in deep trouble just four points clear of the Championship relegation zone.